


Treat or Trick

by NancyBrown



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Bonus Treat, M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-27 19:31:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5061172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyBrown/pseuds/NancyBrown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five unusual trick or treaters show up at the tourist office.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treat or Trick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coricomile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coricomile/gifts).



The Tourist Centre's door stood ajar. The office itself hung with cotton spider webs festooned with small plastic spiders. Papier-mâché gourds covered every horizontal surface. On one wall, Ianto had carefully hung a banner wishing the reader a happy Hallowe'en. Honestly, the other merchants around Mermaid Quay had been ridiculous about the whole thing, moaning how the Visit Wales kiosk never participated in the annual celebration. Ianto privately blamed the Tesco Express for wanting to sell more cheap decorations and sweets.

Not many kiddies even made it this far, dragging their parents to the spooky tour and face painting instead of seeking out extra treats down at this end. A small sticky trickle of tots walked in and out, demanding their due and vanishing as Ianto prayed the team didn't burst through the secret door on the heels of a real monster.

A wee girl dressed in a mostly plastic Disney princess gown toddled in with her mum and mummy, and shyly held out her rather large bag. Ianto put on the usual pleasant smile he wore for community relations and dropped in extra sweeties. He was going to have a surplus otherwise. The last thing he needed was to bring a large bowl of chocolates into the Hub and send the team into a sugar rush. The last time, he hadn't been able to coax the pteranodon out of the rafters for two days.

"Say thank you, Michelle," said the princess's mum.

"Thank you," she said in a small voice.

As the family shuffled out, another group of children wandered in. There were five of them, wearing what Ianto's mother had always referred to as poor kids' costumes: t-shirts with superheroes, Mum's mascara for face paint, and hastily-cut paper animal ears. He waited another ten seconds before realising there were no adults with them.

Smoothly, he took out his bowl. "A few sweets each, then back to your parents."

One of the boys, the one wearing the pirate bandanna, coughed. "That might be hard," he said in a flat American accent. He glanced at the boy next to him, who wore paper rabbit ears. "You sure about this?"

Rabbit Ears nodded, and looked away shyly.

"You need to shut the door," said the little girl dressed as a kitty.

Ianto knew. Even before they said anything else, he knew. Quickly, he ran to the door and slammed it shut. He could wipe the CCTV later. "What the hell happened?"

"It's like this," said the tot in the superhero t-shirt using Owen's brash if younger voice. "There was this beam."

"Don't say it!" said Rabbit Ears, and Ianto couldn't remember his own voice having ever been that treble, but this wasn't the time.

"We have to," Jack said patiently. "You said you already knew."

"Knew what?" Ianto asked. He needed to sit, and found his chair.

Tosh said, "We were all hit with a de-aging ray, then were thrown back in time about a week into our own past."

He didn't question her veracity. There didn't seem to be a point. "And you came here?"

The younger him said with exasperation, "Of course they did."

Gwen nudged him. "You said we did, and Jack said if we didn't after that, the space-time continuum would collapse." Listening to a very wee Gwen Cooper attempt to pronounce 'continuum' would have been much funnier in any other circumstance.

Little Owen was already wandering around the office, poking at things. "Don't," Ianto warned him, but this had the usual effect. Worse, Little Jack made his way behind the desk and was crawling under it.

"You shouldn't be under there."

Jack's voice was muffled. "You didn't say that yesterday."

Someone knocked on the Tourist Centre door. Ianto's head shot up. "That'll be more kids. You shouldn't be seen."

"It'll be fine," said Gwen cheerfully. "Come in!" The door opened, and another set of Trick or Treaters came in.

"Here," Ianto said, dumping the rest of his bowl into their bags. "Enjoy!" Before the parents could object, he shushed them out the door again and locked it this time. He spent a moment rubbing his forehead with his hand. On the Torchwood-weighted scale of weird events he'd dealt with, this rated about a five, which coincidentally appeared to be the younger him's current age.

"If the rest of you downstairs don't know, you can't stay here. I'll have to keep you somewhere safe until the week ends and we revert to the correct timeline." How they'd deal with being children was anyone's guess.

"We'll stay at yours," said Little Jack confidently.

"I don't think that's a good plan," Ianto said as Little Ianto said, "Okay."

"What's this?" Gwen asked, pointing at an antique teapot Ianto had purchased in a vain attempt to add charm to this relic of a disused shop front.

"Don't touch that," he warned. Behind him, he heard the distinct sound of shattering glass. He whirled and saw Owen duck with a shamefaced grin. Ianto couldn't see what he'd broken. "Stop touching things!"

"Ianto?" Tosh asked. He didn't respond, because he didn't want to shout at her. "Ianto, do you happen to remember earlier this morning? Apparently you wagered Gwen ten quid I couldn't get the Oolantish holoprojector working by the end of the day?"

He turned, trying to remember the conversation. He'd joked around with Gwen, certainly.

"Gwen told me," Little Tosh said sweetly. "You owe her a tenner."

The children vanished. There was nothing broken anywhere he could see. He did see the tiny red light of the CCTV camera winking at him, capturing his expression for posterity.

Seconds later, Ianto heard a key in the lock of the Tourist Centre door. Jack came in, Owen behind him with a grouchy expression. Both were adults, which was fortunate as Ianto immediately grabbed Jack and snogged him to ensure he wasn't a hologram. Jack looked pleased, Owen less so.

"For fuck's sake, let me get through the door before you start that."

"And a Happy Hallowe'en to you," said Jack. "What was that for?"

"No reason." He looked up at the CCTV and made as innocent a face as he could manage. Reminded, he dug out a tenner from his pocket and handed it to Owen, who was nearly through the secret door. "Give this to Gwen for me, will you? Tell her and Tosh I owe them one."


End file.
